CHESS Stephen Dann

Sunday

May 27, 2012 at 1:32 AM

Sooner or later, you can find a Massachusetts connection to anything in the intellectual world. From content posted Wednesday at www.chesscafe.com, this writer learned that Gisela Kahn Gresser (1906-2000) attended Radcliffe College and married William Gresser, who attended Harvard Law School.

An interview of Gresser from the Sept 10, 1945, New York Evening Post establishes a firm foundation why she became the first woman in the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and was one of the original 17 female players to get the title of Woman International Master in 1950.Women should note her entry at http://en.wikipedia.org.

One of her teachers was GM Arthur Bisguier, 82, now retired in Wellesley, when both lived in New York.

Hikaru Nakamura of Missouri won the 2012 U.S. Championship, a very strong 12-player round robin, and Irina Krush of New York (who won a two-game playoff, and has competed in Sturbridge), took the women’s 10-player title event, both in St. Louis, starting on May 4.

USCF president Ruth Haring of California (born in Mass.) reported on this event Tuesday in her interim report, and announced the USCF’s entry into online chess competition (http://chessserver.rmrdevelopment.com). She urged anyone who registers to give comments and suggestions as well as commentary on her extensive report to the USCF board, detailed at www.uschess.org.

It’s 5-5 after 10 of 12 games in the World Championship between Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel. Each has won one game with game 11 yesterday, and, after today’s rest day, the final regular game tomorrow. If results remain even, a sudden death playoff will be on Wednesday at the Moscow museum site. Direct reports can be found at www.fide.com or at www.worldchesslive.com.

Don’t forget to get a chess history and playing lesson from George Mirijanian of Fitchburg and Martin Laine of Lunenburg on “Chess Chat” at www.FATV.org (on demand), this month discussing the chess fellowship of Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer.

The 81st Mass. Open continues today and tomorrow at the Best Western Royal Plaza in Marlboro, with a kids’ side event (Grades K-6) as well as the group’s annual meeting. Details of this and other events at www.masschess.org.

Answer to quiz: White mates with 1 Rh8ch, forcing the black king to the corner. From “Chess Lessons From a Grandmaster,” coauthored by GM Yury Shulman of Barrington, Illinois, who won the 2008 U.S. championship, and finished third (undefeated) in this month’s event. See www.Shulmanchess.com for his amazing story, and more about why he co-wrote the book!

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